Impact+on+Human+Health+and+Disease

Impact of Climate Change on Human Health & Disease

Did You Know...?
 * The elderly, the young, the homeless, and those with heart and respiratory conditions can be extremely vulnerable to extreme heat, which is directly related to the change in climate

What Surprised Me
 * There are numerous organizations, like the United States Global Change Research Program, or the USGCRP, that have begun research in determining the significance of climate change on society and human health, and have created goals to inform humans about climate an global change

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency...
 * Extreme temperatures can lead directly to loss of life
 * Climate-related disturbances in ecological systems can indirectly impact the incidence of serious infectious diseases
 * Warm temperatures can increase air and water pollution, which can negatively affect human health
 * The extent and nature of climate change impacts on human health vary by many different factors, including region, population, society, and exposure

Air Quality
 * Climate change is expected to contribute to air quality problems, including the exacerbation of respiratory disorders
 * Caused by an increase in smog and air pollution
 * Ground-level ozone can damage lung tissue and is especially harmful for those with chronic lung diseases, such as asthma
 * Ground-level ozone increases when sunlight and high temperatures and combined with other pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds
 * "Particulate Matter" is also known as particle pollution or PM
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">PM is a mixture of extremely small particles and liquid droplets
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">When breathed in, the particles can negatively affect your lungs
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Exposure to PM is linked to a variety of significant health problems
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">PM is the main cause of visibility impairment (haze)
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">PM is indirectly affected by climate change
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Climate change affects the natural or "biogenic" sources of PM, such as wildfires and dust from dry soils

<span style="color: #0909ce; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Climate-Sensitive Diseases
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Climate change increases the risk of some infectious diseases, particularly those that appear in warm areas and are spread by mosquitoes and other insects
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">"Vector-borne" diseases, which include malaria, yellow fever, and dengue fever, are common in the tropics and subtropics, but climate change could potentially create suitable conditions for outbreaks
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Though average United States and global temperatures are expected to continue to rise, the potential for an increase in the spread of disease will depend on climatic and non-climatic factors



<span style="color: #0909ce; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Resources
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">The World Health Organization
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Science Daily
 * <span style="color: #ff00bc; font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention